GM Progress

While I did get a lot of things done on the GMs before the original Otakon 2004 deadline, one thing I had failed to accomplish was to correct the spud-head. I took some time to try to determine where exactly the kit head went wrong, and in what ways it could be a useful part, and came to the conclusion that the main camera housing and the front part of the crest were mostly correct, but everything around them was wrong. In particular, the back end of the head’s crest is misshapen, and the top surface of the head surrounding the crest is far too high, with the end result that the crest is largely lost – as though the entire head were over-inflated, losing its distinctive details in the process. So the plan for the head was as follows:

• Cut off the back part of the crest and the top surface of the head.
• Build a new back part for the crest, using the lineart as a guide, and install it.
• Build the back of the head back up around the crest. Augment or reduce other areas of the head as necessary. (The temples, around the vulcan cannons are the main area in need of such attention.)
• Cut out the badly molded-in cheek vents, so that Kotobukiya rectangular nozzles may be inserted as substitutes.
• Create camera details and a new, vacuum-formed visor.
• Recast
• Type question-marks followed by obligatory underpants gnomes reference.

I think I originally had four HGUC GM Command kits to work with, out of which I needed to make three GMs. Through experimentation (and, consequently, failure) in attempting to refine the head, I eventually destroyed three of the four heads, and kept the fourth in reserve as a reference for how the kit head looks unaltered. (One was used in an attempt to make the eye visor area larger – a plan I later abandoned. One was used in an attempt to augment the existing crest parts and cut down the rest – abandoned because it was too difficult to get things level and aligned. The third is my current work-in-progress head, but the jaw part was damaged during alterations so I got a fifth in the form of a space-type HGUC GM Command kit, and got a replacement jaw from there.)So far, I’ve created the new head crest and sculpted the back of the head – though it still needs refinement and correction in places where it’s no longer symmetrical. I have created a prototype for the “monoeye” inside the head and begun the process of re-sculpting the vulcan cannon areas. I’ve cut-out the openings for the rectangular nozzles to be installed at the jaw line (mutton-chop thrusters??) but not installed the nozzles yet.